Lubricating-wheel for chain-drives.



H. S. PIERCE.

LUBRICATING WHEEL FOR CHAIN DRIVES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- lO, I913- 1,1 86,434. Patented June 6, 1916.

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4 (I l A? I H. s. PIERCE. LUBRICATINYG WHEEL FOR CHAIN DRIVES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-10.1913.

Patented J une 6; 1916. I

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

HAROLD S. PIERCE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB TO LINK-BELT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

LUBRICATING-WHEEL FOR CHAIN-DRIVES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'June 6, 1916.

Application filed J anuary 10,1913. Serial No. 741,277.

connection with chain belting, particularly of the type made of plates connected together by pins; The invention is espec ally adapted for use in connection with that type of plate chain having projecting teeth which engage the teeth of a sprocket wheel..

The object of the invention is to construct the Wheel, around which the chain passes,

so as to allow for the proper lubrication of the chain while it is passing around the wheel. This object I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the/accompanying'drawings, in which:.

Figure 1' is a sectional view of my improved sprocket wheel on the line 0- Fig.

' 3, showing the chain in place; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line bb, Fig. 3-; Fig.

3 is a sectional view on the line 0-0, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is anjenlarged view of a portionof Fig. 3'; Fig. 5 is a view illustrating my improvedsprocket wheel arranged to use. heavy grease as the lubricant; Fig. 6 s a sectional view illustrating a modification; Fig. 7 is a view showingthe device applied to a circulating system; and Fig. 8 is a sec tional view on' the line dd, Fig. 7.

Referring to. the drawings, 1 is the sprocket'wheel having arm 2 and a hub 3.

4 are the teeth which are shaped to engage the teeth' 5 of theplates 6 'composingthe chain 7. The se' veral lates 6 are connected together and to the p ates of; an ad o1mng link by pivot pins .8 and 1t1$ importantthat the pivot pin and the surface of the ad oining plates be lubricated in the proper" manner. This cannot be done by applying the lubricant to the back of the teeth, but should be done when the teeth arein the position which they assume in passing around the sprocket wheel shown in'Fig. 1. Bymy invention I apply lubricant to the space between theteeth while the chain is passing around the sprocket wheel. In the present instance, the web 10 connecting the rim 2. to the hub 3 of the wheel is solid and is arranged at one side of the wheel. On the opposite side of the wheel is a flange 11 which extends to a point near the hub 3; the hub being less in length than the flange'in the present instance. 'By this construction a cavity 12 is formed between the hub and the rim and in this cavity I preferably insert wool, or other waste, which can be impregnated witha lubricant insertedthrough the space between the hub and the flange 11. 20 are two annular grooves, oneon each side of an annular channel or well 14 and 13 are perforations which extend through the rim 2, from the 8111111131 grooves to the space between the teeth 4, as shown in Figs. 1, 3,

amount of lubricant to remain in thecavity 12, while portions of the lubricant will flow.

through the perforations 13. -By this construction the wheel can be, charged with lubricating material which will escape with less rapidity than if the well or recess were 7 not formed in the flange. Furthermore, by having the open space between thegflange and the hub of the wheel, lubricant can be] applied tothe cavity 12 while the wheel is in motion.

and 4. The annular well 14: allows a certain In some instances, as shown in Fig.5, I

may close the cavity by a cap 15 having a screw plug 16; the cavity being charged with grease and the plug inserted and used as a .medium for forcing the" lubricant throughthe perforations in the flange of the wheel.

Thus it will be seen by my improvementthatPI can' apply the lubricant directly to the part of the chain, which is ordinarily inaccessible, by perforating the rim of the wheel so that the perforations will commu-' nicate with the spacebetween the teeth. of

the "wheel and the lubricant will pass through the perforations and f on to the. chainat the proper point.

While my inventionis particularly adaptscribed, it may be used with advantage for lubricating gearing. One of the gears may be made in accordance-with my invention, while the othermay be made solid.

vWhile I have shown in Fig. 3 a single well with'perforations on each side thereof, in'

ed for lubricating chains of the type de- Fig. 6 I have illustrated a wheel having a row of central perforations '17 and two an nular wells 18, one on each side of the perforations. There may be as many perfora-- tions in the wheel as desired and. they may be at any angle desired. As shown in Fig. 3, some of the perforations are parallel and communicate with the spaces between the teeth at each side of the wheel, while others are arranged, one at an angle to the other, so as to communicate with the space between the teeth of the wheel near the center of the Wheel. I preferably form an annular groove 20 in the inner wall of the flange at the point where the perforations commu nicate with the reservoir, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, so that the oil, as it is projected by centrifugal force, will accumulate in the groove and will more readily flow through the perforations.

It will be understood that my invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with intermittent moving machinery, or machinery which is stopped and started even at long intervals, as the centrifugal force will tend to force the oil or other lubricant into the well 14 and into the grooves 20 communicating with the perforations, and the oil will remain in the well, which is practically a reservoir, until the machinery is stopped, when the waste will again take up the oil so that when the machine is started again part of the oil will once more accumulate in the well, while part will pass through the perforations to the periphery ofthe wheel.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, myinvention can be used in connection with high speed drives. The two sprocket wheels 1 and 21 and the drive chain 7 are inclosed within a casing 22 and I connect a pipe 23 to the bottom of the casing and extend it to a point opposite the small sprocket. wheel 1 and couple it to the sprocket wheel by a stufiing box 24:, Fig. 8, so as to communicate with the interior of the sprocket wheel which is made in accordance with Fig. 1 of the drawings. As the sprocket wheel rapidly rotates, it creates a suction in the pipe; drawing oil from the bottom of the casing and discharging it through the openings in the rim of the wheel directly into the joints of the chain, and as the oil is thrown ofi of the chain, it accumulates in the bottom of the casing to be again circulated. Thus the chain is kept continuously lubricated.

1. A sprocket wheelhaving a hub and a widerim andhaving teeth on the periphery of the rim, thejhub and rim forming a resermesses ing from the spaces between certain of the teeth and. at a point at one side of the well, the well being of such a volume that it will retain sufiicient lubricant so that, when the wheel is stopped, the lubricant will accumulate in the bottom of the reservoir at a suflicient depth to allow the lubricant to flow over the walls of the reservoir and into the passages so that, when the wheel is again started in motion, the portion of the lubricant formerly in the well will be projected through the passages.

2. A sprocket wheel having a hub and a rim and-having teeth on the periphery of the rim, said rim having an annular well formed in its inher surface and having passages on each side ofthe well but not directly communicating therewith, said passages terminating in'the spaces between certain of the teeth, the Wheel having a solid web connecting the rim and the hub at one side, the other side of the wheel having a flange terminating short of the hub to allow for the insertion of a lubricant into the space between the rim and the hub.

3. A sprocket wheel having a hub and a rim and also halvingv an internal reservoir located between the hub and the rim and having an annular well formed in the inner surface of the rim and communicating with the reservoir, the rim also having an annular groove located at one side of the well and Y less in. depth than the well, the rim having passages extending from the groove to the spaces between certain of the teeth.

4. The combination of a sprocket'wheel having a hub, a rim'and a space between the two forming a reservoir, the rim hav ing passages therein connecting with the reservoir; a casing inclosingthe wheel; a drive chain passing around said wheel; and a pipe leading from the bottom of the casing to the reservoir in said wheel so that, as the wheel rotates, oilwill be drawn from the bottom of the casing through the pipeinto the reservoir in the wheel and through the passages in the wheel to the chain.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specificatiornin the presehce of two. subscribing. witnesses.

" HAROLD S. PIERCE.

Witnesses:

J os. H. KLEIN, WM. A. BARR. 

